I was talking with my brother and his wife about impending war with Iraq. They live in Geneva, and both work in diplomatic circles. Of course they know more about policy than I do, so it's hard to have a debate. At least for me, since if they state something as factual I have no recourse. After all, what do I know?
So we're discussing inspections and deployments and timing. And my brother suggests, jokingly, that maybe the best way for the US to proceed is just to announce: "If the UN requests to inspect a facility and Iraq refuses, the US will just bomb it."
Actually, this sounds like a pretty good idea to me. It's a little bit like the protocol kids use to ensure that everyone gets a fair slice of pie ~ you cut, I pick. You deny, I destroy. Neither of us gets what we originally wanted, but it's sort of fair. And it provides an incentive to NOT impede inspections.
I won't be holding my breath expecting this to be taken up in official policy, however.
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